Taking Your Motorhome On A Ferry – Essential Checklist
It’s that time of year again – time to plan your summer trips away in the motorhome. If you’re anything like me, you will want to ensure that the majority of this time is spent on the other side of the Channel.
Doing this means booking your motorhome on a ferry (or Eurotunnel). Whichever option you choose, there are a number of things to remember when booking your ferry/train tickets. Here’s our five-second guide to booking ferry tickets for your motorhome:
- Measure the total length and total height of your motorhome, in metres. Remember to include roof boxes, bicycle racks, etc.
- Decide which ferry routes you are interested in.
- Visit our ferry booking page to compare ferry prices or go direct to a ferry operator such as P&O Ferries, Norfolk Line or DFDS.
- Book your ticket.
- When checking in to the ferry port, remember to have your tickets/booking reference and passports to hand.
Finally, remember that you cannot use gas on board ferries or in the tunnel. Your motorhome’s gas supply must be turned off at the bottles before boarding. If you’re worried about the temperature inside your fridge, here are a few tips:
- If you’re only taking a short crossing (e.g. Dover-Calais or the tunnel), then don’t worry. Assuming it’s cold to start with, your fridge will easily stay cold during the crossing
- For longer crossings, consider putting some frozen ice packs or bottles of water/milk/fruit juice into the fridge before leaving home. Pre-chill the fridge at home on mains hookup if you can and make sure it’s running on 12V during the journey to the ferry port. You can also run it on gas while you are waiting to board, but make sure you turn off the gas before boarding. Above all, don’t open the fridge before boarding and it will stay suprisingly cold, even on an overnight crossing.
- If you need the fridge to stay constantly cold – because of storing medicines, for example – then contact the ferry company beforehand and ask if any mains hookup points are available on the vehicle decks. Some ferries do have a limited number of these available – some refrigerated lorries require them.